


Destiny Still Arrives, All The Same

by NamelesslyNightlock, Rabentochter



Series: This Was A Bad Idea (but we know what we're doing) [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Loki (Marvel), BAMF Thor (Marvel), BAMF Tony Stark, Battle of Titan (Marvel), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Feels, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Forehead Touching, Frostiron Bingo Round 1, Happy Ending, Kissing, Loki (Marvel) Gets a Hug, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Reunions, Revenge, Teamwork, Thanos (Marvel) Dies, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, loki to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 22:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20217319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabentochter/pseuds/Rabentochter
Summary: Fighting alone on an alien planet without any backup, Tony is the only thing standing between Thanos and the rest of the universe– and he’s losing.At least until a dagger lands in Thanos’ wrist, and Tony realises that he’s not truly alone at all.





	Destiny Still Arrives, All The Same

**Author's Note:**

> Rabentochter was bored and drew a pretty picture, and NamelesslyNightlock couldn't resist writing something for it - and then Rabentochter drew _more_ pretty pictures, and this is the result 🙌🏼  
  
As per usual for this series, Art by **Rabentochter**, Fic by **NamelesslyNightlock**.  
  
This is also for NamelesslyNightlock's Frostiron Bingo—  
  
**Square I5**— [_Image Prompt_](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/38/e2/9338e2caf60db143028e2ecd9a90696a.jpg)

You know, the fight wasn’t going too badly, all things considered. Sure, Strange was out for the count and Tony wasn’t sure where any of the Guardians were, and the fact that Tony hadn’t seen Peter in far too many minutes was something that he couldn’t afford to think about. He _needed_ to focus on the fact that Thanos was – okay _yeah, _Thanos was winning – and that if they wanted any chance of getting out of this with the universe intact, then Tony had to get his ass into gear right the fuck now.

But, hey. How many people could say they’d survived having a moon thrown at them? Tony was willing to bet that there weren’t many. And how the hell was Thanos supposed to be able to stand up to someone who could survive a moon to the head, right?

_Right?_

Tony tried to muster up as much bravado as he could, and when he landed down in front of the purple dick he did so with a witty quip and an explosion. Thanos, unfortunately, barely flinched– but when he recognised Tony and spoke to him by _name_, Tony had to admit that _he_ was a little thrown.

Still, he channelled all that rage – because for Thanos, the monster Tony had heard oh so _much_ about, Tony had rather a lot of rage to spare – and he gave the fight everything that he had. He fought better than he ever had before, utilising every single weapon and gadget that the new nanotech suit had to offer until his muscles were screaming and his suit was low on power. He fought until he had nothing left to give, and then he pushed himself that extra mile because there was no backup, there _was_ no one else, and he was perfectly aware that he was currently the only thing standing between Thanos and the end of the whole fucking _universe_.

So. He _fought_.

He stood his ground when a wall of purple energy from the Power Stone blasted toward him, his shield digging hard into his shoulder. He turned and shot at Thanos from his flank– he used precious nanobots that were protecting his side to create yet another weapon in desperation. He clamped his foot over Thanos’ and used a repulsor to power a punch—

And then Thanos touched the cut on his cheek, his expression almost surprised– yet it quickly turned unimpressed.

“All _that_… for a drop of blood.”

Tony wanted to point out that it was a hell of a lot more than anyone else had managed, and it wasn’t even like the fight was fair. The bastard had _four_ _Infinity Stones_– one which Thanos then used to catch Tony under the chin with a purple blast and throw him a hundred yards to crash hard against the ground.

And you know what, _fuck_ _Quill_. This never would have even happened if that bastard hadn’t gone and lost it when they were _this close_ to getting the gauntlet off his hand. If Tony’d had the damn thing, maybe Thanos would be the one scrambling on the floor right now. And yeah, so maybe Quill’s girl was in trouble, maybe she was _dead_, but that didn’t give him the license to fuck up this badly. Tony would know.

Because Tony hadn’t seen the love of his life in _weeks_, not since Loki had sent a text to say that Thor had discovered his ruse on Asgard and was making him retrieve Odin. Tony had been worried, but not overly concerned– because yeah, Thor would probably be angry about how Loki had put their father in a nursing home (which had been one of Tony’s better ideas, if he could say so himself) but Loki was more than capable of dealing with Thor. He’d been doing so for _far_ longer than Tony had been alive, after all. But… Tony hadn’t heard from Loki since, and when he’d asked Bruce about it back in Strange’s weirdly cultic mansion, the answer hadn’t really been particularly encouraging.

_“I was with Thor and the other Asgardians aboard a refugee ship,” _Bruce had explained. _“Thanos arrived, and there wasn’t much we could do. The survivors from Asgard weren’t warriors, they were mostly just ordinary people. They were slaughtered.”_

And yes, that was terrible and all, and _yes_ it had made Tony feel ill, but there was one name he cared about more than any of the others.

_“You were with Thor,”_ Tony had asked. _“Bruce… did you see Loki?”_

_“Yes, I saw him,”_ Bruce replied, and he was pulling a displeased face, but– it was more than enough to make the relief flood through Tony like a wave. At least until– _“But things were bad when I left. Thor was in trouble, and Loki… well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that scared before. Not even when he was facing the Hulk.”_

That had cut Tony to the core, because Loki _never _looked scared. Oh, he could be terrified on the inside– he could be broken and afraid and yet, he would never let it show on his face. Loki’s arrogant smirk was as much a lie as the bright and happy smile Tony wore for the cameras. So to hear that Loki had been _that_ scared… well.

It was unlikely that he and Thor had managed to get out of that refugee ship alive.

And even if it hadn’t been for Bruce’s words– Loki had told Tony all about Thanos, during a dark night filled with alcohol, blankets, and holding each other tight. If Thanos got his hands on Loki again… Tony knew very well what he would do.

So _yes,_ Tony fucking understood what it meant to be afraid for the person you loved, to be angry and sick with _fear_ that the worst might have happened. But he wasn’t going to let that stop him from stopping _this_, from stopping Thanos before he destroyed everything else.

And besides. Thanos was the bastard who had held Loki prisoner, who had forced him to do terrible things in order to survive, and who had done things to Loki that caused him to wake up screaming, even after so many years. Even if Tony had known for sure that Loki was relaxing in their house in Malibu behind the strongest wards magic could build, even if half the universe was not at stake, Tony would be doing his damnedest to tear Thanos limb from limb for what he had done to _Loki_.

The thought gave Tony another burst of energy that he sorely needed, and he rolled out of the way of Thanos’ next blast and made it to his feet– but he didn’t remain so for long, for Thanos was ruthless with his use of the Power Stone.

Tony wasn’t attacking anymore– it was all he could do to stay on the defensive, to keep out of the way of Thanos’ blows—

And it wasn’t long before he couldn’t even manage that.

A purple blast got him in the side, knocking his legs from under him. His knees ached as they hit the ground, but Tony refused to be beaten. He glared up at Thanos even as the titan raised his bare hand, even as the HUD told him that the nanobots no longer had the power necessary to sustain such a hit. He didn’t turn away as Thanos’ fingers curled into a fist, preparing to bring it down on Tony’s head and likely end his life—

But then Thanos _howled_ and stumbled backward, gripping at his arm where—

Where a dagger was imbedded in his wrist.

The dagger was small already, and looked even more so against Thanos’ large, sausage-like fingers as he tore it from his arm. (Which was _stupid_ move, really, any human who had done a basic first aid course could have told him that.) But even though it was small, Tony could see the detail on the black handle, and he _knew_ the shape of that silver blade.

He recognised that dagger, because… well. He’d _made _it.

And when Tony turned to his left, his breath caught in his throat. For standing tall with an arrogant lift to his chin and smirk cutting along the edge of his lips– with his emerald cape cascading from his shoulders, his arms spread wide and the orange sun of Titan gleaming along the sharp lines of his gold battle armour… was none other than—

_“Loki,”_ Tony gasped. Loki’s worry seemed to ease as his green eyes skimmed over Tony’s armour before hardening once again– because yeah, they hadn’t seen each other in weeks but… (unlike Quill) they _knew_ what was more important, here. They knew what was at stake. Still, Tony was able to pick up on the underlying relief in Loki’s expression, and he knew that it matched his own.

“You looked like you needed a bit of assistance,” Loki drawled– and his voice was the sweetest thing Tony had ever heard.

Unsurprisingly, however, it seemed that Thanos disagreed on that matter. “Loki,” he hissed, his tone containing far more bite than Tony’s had. “How is this—”

“You are not the first to try and kill me,” Loki said, “And you will be _far_ from the last.”

There was enough defiance in his tone to make Thanos _snarl. _“I have already defeated Stark,” he said, still sounding like he had _nothing_ to worry about. “It will not be difficult to defeat you as well. And this time, I shall make _sure_ you are dead before I leave.”

“Oh,” Loki said, tilting his head– and somehow, he actually managed to sound _pitying_. “You don’t truly believe I came _alone_, do you?”

Thanos’ brow furrowed—

And the air lit up with a sharp _crack_ as a bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky on the heels of a vengeful god. Thor’s war cry was almost as harsh as the lightning itself, and he was glowing with a power that Tony had never seen him use before.

Tony was close enough to Thanos that he was caught up in it as well, but rather than injuring him it had the exact opposite effect. The electricity surged through his suit and charged all of the nanobots, powering up the arc reactor until he had even more energy than he had started with. The recharge meant that the bots had more capability for self-repair, and by the time Tony straightened back up on his feet, the suit looked just as pristine as it had when he had faced down Squidward that morning.

Underneath the suit, of course, Tony was still as battered and as exhausted as he had been before– but that did not stop him from standing tall.

Loki was running forward, his hands reaching out– and Thor had Thanos distracted for now. He was swinging a giant axe of some kind, and that along with his lightning seemed to be enough to help him hold off Thanos and the Stones for a short while—

So when Loki ran right up Tony, Tony reached for him as well. They gripped each other’s arms, and their foreheads pressed together, neither of them caring that both of their helmets stopped them from getting any true contact. They hadn’t seen each other in far too long – Tony had been afraid that Loki was hurt, or _worse_, and Loki had spent a good portion of that time terrified – and even just that short moment of closeness was enough to ground them both. And despite the noise of Thor and Thanos, despite the fact that they were quite literally in the middle of a fight for their lives– when Tony opened his eyes, it was to see that Loki’s eyes had closed as well, and that his lips were curved up into a soft, contented smile.

The moment stretched as Tony matched Loki’s smile, but it was still only a moment—

And by then time Loki’s cloak had settled, they were already moving away from each other again.

What followed was one of the most cohesive displays of teamwork that Tony had ever had the pleasure to be a part of. The three of them hadn’t fought together before, but they all had experience with working as part of a group– and Loki and Thor, of course, knew each other’s fighting styles almost as well as their own, while Tony and Loki were so familiar with each other it was almost second nature to know where they would move next, to be able to read each other’s movements. The weakest link was, remarkably, between Tony and Thor– and they had fought as teammates with the Avengers for _years_.

Thanos had four Infinity Stones, and he was fighting for… for… well, Tony thought it might have been ‘balance’, but Thanos had been a little vague on that point, really. So he didn’t have a solid motivation, whereas Tony, Loki, and Thor? They were fighting for the_ universe_, and they were not going to lose. Not in a million years.

Thanos seemed to only be able – or willing – to use one of the Stones at a time, and that made things infinitely easier than they could have been. Tony’s shields protected him from the blasts while he spun through the air, and Loki was able to disappear and _re_appear without Thanos being able to keep track. Thor was an explosion of electricity that could not be stopped—

And it was not long before _Thanos_ was the one starting to back away, his eyes wide and expression almost _panicked_, his blasts becoming more and more sporadic and uncontrolled.

Then there was the sound of sparks and a wall of orange energy burned in the air right behind Thanos, creating a solid barrier. A fleeting glance proved that Strange was up again, halting Thanos’ retreat—

And then Loki finally stood in one place, his hands raised and his eyes glowing green while tendrils of his seiðr curled around Thanos to hold him still. Tony landed next to him, repulsors on full power, blinding Thanos and forcing him to protect his head, distracting him from trying to use the gauntlet to free himself from Loki’s seiðr. Together, Tony and Loki pressed forward, pushing Thanos back up against the immovable force of Strange’s shield.

A yell confirmed Peter’s continued survival as Spider-Man swooped down from above, his webs wrapping around Thanos’ gauntlet and keeping his hand open once again, helping Loki and Tony to hold him in place—

And then Thor landed on Loki’s other side, his axe raised, his skin crackling with the rage of the sky.

“For _Asgard!”_

As Thor charged, Tony forced every bit of power he had left into those repulsors, and from the way that Loki’s seiðr suddenly pulsed Tony knew that Loki was doing the same. Thanos looked terrified now, like he _finally_ knew that he’d lost—

And then Thor’s axe swung down—

And Thanos’ head was sliced clean off.

It fell to the ground with a much softer sound than the one Thor made as he landed, his teeth bared with the viciousness of his smile.

Tony lowered his hands, and Loki let up on his seiðr– and then Thanos’ headless body keeled over as well, purple blood pooling out of his gaping neck and into the dust. 

_Oh look,_ Tony thought. _That’s a little more than just a _drop_ of blood._

They stood in silence for a moment, as if no one could quite believe that it was _over_– but, then.

“Well,” piped a voice from behind them all, finally arriving after all had been said and done. “That was rather anticlimactic.”

“Fuck off, Quill,” Tony replied– though to be honest, it was more a reflex than anything else. It was enough to draw Loki’s attention, though, and he turned to Tony with a small smile.

Loki looked completely _wrecked_, far more than he had even at the start of the fight. He was swaying a little and there were dark rings around his eyes, but they remained bright. Holding Thanos down must taken a lot out of him, but it seemed that the adrenaline of victory was enough to keep him on his feet.

Tony went to him immediately, his feet moving before he’d finished the conscious thought, his suit melting back into the arc reactor and leaving him in the running clothes he had been wearing before this whole mess had dropped out of the sky. Loki didn’t use his seiðr to remove his armour like he usually would have, he was probably too tired to even contemplate it– but he stepped forward and met Tony half way, and they fell into each other’s arms with sighs that spoke of exhaustion and relief.

“You’re all right,” Tony whispered, his hands clutching the back of Loki’s heavy coat as best he could.

“So are you,” Loki replied softly.

Tony leaned back slightly, just enough so that he could meet Loki’s gaze. Then he reached up to gently take Loki’s helmet off, and held it by the horn in one hand so that he could smooth his other over Loki’s damp hair before it came to rest on the back of Loki’s neck.

“We’re both fine,” he said firmly. “We’re both safe. Thanos is gone, we _won_, and he can never bother either of us again.”

Loki smiled at that, a real, proper smile that warmed his whole expression. “Yes,” he whispered. “We certainly did.”

When Loki tilted down his head, Tony leaned up so that their lips pressed together in a kiss which started out sweet, but which quickly deepened as the stress of the weeks apart and the fear they had both suffered pulled them into a more passionate embrace. They kissed like it was the start of the rest of their lives, Loki’s arms holding Tony tight, and one of Tony’s hands in Loki’s hair while the other still held Loki’s helmet against the small of Loki’s back—

A loud exclamation caused Tony’s head to snap to the side, breaking the kiss as he stared out, half expecting a new threat—

“_Thor?”_ Peter gasped loudly, the eyes of his mask going as wide as they possibly could. “Oh my god, okay, I’m– I’m totally cool—”

“I feel like I should be insulted that he didn’t greet me that way,” Tony said in amusement.

“Don’t be,” Loki replied. “It’s distracting him.”

Tony grinned at that, and leaned up to kiss Loki again– just short and chaste this time, just a gentle touch of adoration that didn’t need to be anything else. And then Tony looped his arms around Loki’s neck, and Loki pulled him close and pressed his face to Tony’s shoulder. In the middle of the broken planet, with the sounds of the Guardians and Peter and the others all around them… they just held each other as close as they could, slowly relaxing with the knowledge that everything had gone better than they possibly could have hoped.

They really had won. It really was over.

They were safe, they were _together_, and all was well… _as all things should be._

**Author's Note:**

> You can find the art on tumblr [here!](https://rabentochter.tumblr.com/post/186955481939/art-for-destiny-still-arrives-all-the-same-a)


End file.
